North America update - July 16, 2024
North America divided: West Coast capacity surges & East Coast faces decline
To download our latest SRS publication from July 8th and explore in-depth insights from the Q2 2024 eeSea Schedule Reliability Scorecard please click here.
Introduction
We’ve done things a little differently for our look back at June. The reader is divided topically into the biggest highlights of the region and supported by a selection of relevant examples instead of being defined by standardized categories like blanks, new services, etc. Any feedback on the new format or the content is appreciated as always.
Highlight 1: East Coast Weathering Storms
A decline in reliability along major East Coast ports continued this past month. Causes for reliability decline are numerous and include (but are not limited to): worries over possible ILA strike actions, Houston taking direct impact from tropical storm Beryl, Baltimore continuing its long but steady road to recovery, Charleston still countering heavy delays following weeks of peak congestion, key European & Mediterranean transshipment hubs suffering from delays and congestion, and last but not least the extended transit times past the Cape of Good Hope. While technically counted as July events, it’s worth mentioning that strike actions in Bremerhaven and Hamburg also made some contribution to recent delays, as well as last week’s dangerous weather patterns off the South African coast.
Carriers continue to adapt to these challenges with resolute efforts to improve performance, especially into ports of first discharge that set the tone for delays along the rest of the EC route. Strategic actions aimed at improving reliability include: new service combinations/refactoring, high-frequency vessel swaps, insertion of blanks to offset extreme delays, and increased transit times and/or increased vessel slots. Some carriers favor one or more of these approaches but it can be said that all have become increasingly adept at the flexible manipulation of short and long-term schedules in order to get ahead of the volatile climate.
Notable Examples
THEA - EC5 and CMA - SL1 are regularly employing blanks, as well as ad-hoc slot adjustments, to cut down on delays.
MSC rebranded the CANEX1 & CANEX2 into the MSC - Med Canadian Service and also introduced the new MSC - CANADA EXPRESS in order to decrease emissions and minimize total trips required to serve the Northern Europe - North America trade.
MSC - EMUSA saw a 2 week drop in its total turnaround time, as well as 2 slots dropped.
MSC - Med Canadian & MSC - EMUSA are also both still heavily employing high frequency vessel swaps to manage delays.
CMA - MEDGULF was announced as suspended in early October, with just the CMA CGM NAVEGANTES continuing some calls post-July.
MED - ECNA loop 5 sees Valencia dropping out in favor of Sines, likely due to SR woes that have especially impacted transshipment hubs in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, and Asia this past quarter.
HL - TEX sees 3 out of 7 slots blanked all the way through September, this has the potential to be another Mediterranean - North America service headed for suspension.
Despite carriers' persistent efforts to divert Asia sailings away from possible strike actions in Vancouver & Rupert with a slew of blanked sailings; the East Coast is now in the lead. There are 13 blanks on the WC and 15 on the EC forecasted in our 6 week forward window.
On a positive note, Charleston and Miami have both enjoyed a considerable and consistent decline in congestion from w25 onwards.
Nearly all services have reinstated sailings into Baltimore, with a couple of stragglers like the OCEAN - AWE5 slated to make their return in mid-July.
Highlight 2: West Coast Gateway of Possibilities
With the US West Coast receiving what is these days the rare accolade of a true improvement in overall schedule reliability this past quarter, it warrants that we also pay some special attention to the increase in capacity observed over the past several weeks. With the Asia - Europe and Europe - North America trades suffering from one disruption after the next, the Transpacific route is back in top favor for new ventures and even some past service reinstatements.
Mexican ports like Manzanillo & Lazaro Cardenas continue to see added capacity from new services as well, including 3 new services first mentioned in previous last reader. While it overlaps a bit into what we consider the South American trade territory, we are also keeping our eyes on North American services calling Brazil, Panama, and any transshipment hubs on the East Coast South America as evidence of increased activity there continues to grow. With South America being a consistent region for relatively fair reliability and a viable gateway to the East Coast, it’s no wonder that these areas are seeing a vote of confidence from carriers, manufacturers, and cargo owners alike.
Notable Examples
CMA - TXG a new Los Angeles shuttle service beginning in July.
COSCO & OOCL announced the COSCO - SEA3 service beginning in late June and serving Long Beach exclusively.
Mirroring their efforts on the EC, MSC has tactfully rearranged the MSC - Swan & MSC - Sentosa-Shikra into the MSC - Swan-Sentosa and created a standalone MSC - Shikra schedule.
ZIM - ZX2 was reinstated into Long Beach for the first time since 2022. This service has taken the extraloader vessels that were originally adopted by the ZIM - ZEX in recent weeks from the ZIM - ZPX Vancouver service that slowly but surely receded to suspension.
MSC reintroduces the MSC - Mustang, another service not seen since 2022.
ONE - EXW is another new extraloader service into Los Angeles.
MSC - Santana has been repurposed from an Asia - North America to an Asia - East Coast South America service; adding 5 calls including 4 Brazilian ports and an additional vessel slot to cover the 7 day increase in turnaround.
SLS - AWC has been reinstated into Long Beach.
BAL - CMX is a Manzanillo & Lazaro Cardenas exclusive service that has been reinstated.
MSC - Dahlia is a new Manzanillo & Lazaro Cardenas service picking up at the tail end of July.
Our team plans to release the next iteration of our newsletter in early August. In the meantime please do keep an eye on our Linkedin posts for other updates and invitations.
